Who could have imagined?
That the renowned Lady Feiyin of Vermilion Bird City was actually the Sound Vein's number one disciple in disguise?
If word of this got out.
Heaven knows how many of the gifted young elites who considered Lady Feiyin the woman of their dreams would either question their entire existence.
Or try to beat Qin Guangling to a pulp until he questioned his.
Walking on thin ice, indeed!
But then again, as the saying goes, great fortune favors the bold.
The appearance fee for posing as Feiyin was simply too lucrative.
One single cross-dressing performance paid as much as five regular gigs — which meant cross-dressing for a month earned him half a year of downtime.
Who could resist that kind of temptation?
Certainly not Qin Guangling. As the Sound Vein's top disciple, he not only had to compete with the lead disciples of the Sanqing Immortal Sect's other branches, but also contend with countless gifted elites across the entire Southern Province.
The pressure was immense.
And cultivation required wealth, companions, techniques, and terrain — without money and resources, nothing else mattered.
That said.
While his first time cross-dressing had left Qin Guangling deeply ashamed — so much so that his Dao Heart nearly cracked.
As the number of times increased, he gradually adapted. The sense of shame weakened with each performance, and strictly speaking, by now... he couldn't feel ashamed at all anymore.
Mm-hmm.
As long as you're shameless enough, shame can never threaten you.
In fact.
These days, Qin Guangling would occasionally experience a certain twisted sense of satisfaction — Mwahaha, those elites from other sects who strutted around acting so high and mighty all day.
Yet before Old Lady — ahem — before the stunning beauty portrayed by a certain Qin, didn't they still have to be perfectly polite, humbly fawning, not even willing to utter a single harsh word?
Mwahaha~
He couldn't wait to see how spectacular their expressions would be when they found out Lady Feiyin was actually him in disguise.
Of course.
He could look forward to it all he wanted, but outing himself was absolutely out of the question. Never mind how socially fatal losing the disguise would be — just the enraged elites of the Southern Province alone would tear him limb from limb.
Phew~
Lounging lazily on the warm carpet, Qin Guangling kicked up his legs and waited for Fengqi Tower to deliver his performance fee before heading out on the town.
Suddenly.
A clear, melodious voice rang out from below Fengqi Tower: "I have long heard that Lady Feiyin of Fengqi Tower possesses peerless skill with the guqin, her music like the sounds of heaven. Tianyu has come to pay her respects and humbly requests that Senior Sister offer her guidance."
Qin Guangling: ???
With lightning speed, he threw his clothes back on and secured his mask.
He hurried to the window and peered down.
At the entrance of Fengqi Tower, flower petals drifted through the air as two columns of women dressed in emerald skirts, each carrying instruments like flutes, silk-stringed lutes, and pipa, filed in one after another.
Leading them.
Was a young woman in a blazing crimson gown, her face half-hidden by gossamer veils. A vermilion mark was painted at the center of her brow, and her phoenix-shaped eyes carried an effortless, mesmerizing charm that made it impossible not to be drawn in.
If Qin Guangling's portrayal of Lady Feiyin was like a white orchid blooming quietly in the mountains.
Its fragrance distant and pure.
Then.
This young woman in pink was like a peony in full, riotous bloom — boldly claiming spring for itself.
Crowned in splendor above all others!
...
"Of all people, it had to be her."
The moment he saw the pink-skirted young woman, Qin Guangling's expression darkened slightly.
He recognized her. She was a true disciple of Miaoyin Blessed Land, and among its many true disciples, she ranked among the very best.
Born with an Innate Spirit Body, naturally attuned to the Dao of Sound.
Whether it was the bamboo flute, the pipa, the guzheng, or the xiao — once taught, she could master any instrument in an instant.
After joining Miaoyin Blessed Land, Tianyu earned the admiration of its Sect Master, who took her in as a closed-door disciple and passed down every last one of her supreme techniques to her.
Now.
At only twenty-three years of age, her cultivation had already reached the mid-Golden Core realm, and she had achieved proficiency in multiple sound-based techniques from Miaoyin Blessed Land.
Word had it.
Barring any unforeseen events, within a millennium, this woman had an extremely high chance of succeeding as the next Sect Master of Miaoyin Blessed Land, becoming a major power in the Southern Province.
"She's here to challenge my stage!"
Qin Guangling's expression darkened further. They were both thousand-year-old foxes — no need to play the innocent.
He had just finished performing the Ethereal Cloud Melody, and Tianyu had appeared to challenge him right after. She was clearly planning to use his reputation as a stepping stone to climb even higher.
After all.
Throughout the entire Southern Province, there were only a handful of lineages that specialized in sound-based cultivation techniques.
The Sound Vein of the Sanqing Immortal Sect, while long past its prime and a far cry from its glory days a thousand years ago, was still regarded by many elites as a bastion of refined musical artistry.
Qin Guangling's 'Feiyin' persona was also a celebrated master of the sonic arts, renowned across Vermilion Bird City.
In comparison.
Though Tianyu was the rising star of Miaoyin Blessed Land, outside of it, her fame couldn't hold a candle to Feiyin's.
You see.
For cultivators of the sonic arts, such as those of the Sanqing Sound Vein or Miaoyin Blessed Land, their performance fees were directly proportional to their reputation.
Vermilion Tower.
Was the gathering place of countless Southern Province elites — a venue for debate and sparring, and the fastest pipeline for gossip to spread.
Feiyin.
Was a musical prodigy that countless Southern Province elites dreamed of meeting, radiating a goddess-like aura.
If Tianyu could engage in a 'sound duel' with her at Fengqi Tower and edge out Feiyin, then by tomorrow, her name would be famous across all of Vermilion Bird City.
Any future performance invitations would command several times her current rate.
Even.
Miaoyin Blessed Land's reputation would rise another notch on the back of it.
Perhaps.
She could use the opportunity to establish a 'Phoenix Roost Tower' or something similar and rake in a fortune.
On top of that, the Primordial Sage Academy of the Southern Province was about to open. The allocation of admission slots was determined by evaluating the caliber of disciples from each great grotto-heaven, blessed land, and ordinary immortal sect.
If a sect's disciples produced an abundance of exceptional talents.
Then the Primordial Sage Academy might grant them a few extra slots.
If a sect was struggling, with a thinning crop of talent, then its existing slots would likely be reduced.
800 years ago.
The last time the Academy opened, the Sanqing Immortal Sect's talent pool was running dry, and by all rights, their slots should have been cut.
But precisely because the entire Sanqing Immortal Sect fought bravely on the frontlines of Yingmo Island's demon purge — propelling the anti-demon war 800 years ago to such a resounding victory — they held the moral high ground.
In an era when the demon race had not yet been fully eradicated, no one dared target the Sanqing Immortal Sect and risk alienating their allies.
On top of that, the newly appointed Sanqing Sect Master, Zhuo Canglang, at the Immortal Sect Alliance Conference, argued his case with reason and dignity — and by "reason and dignity," I mean he threw an absolute tantrum, rolling on the ground and morally kidnapping everyone in sight.
A full Sect Master, utterly cast aside all shame, even going so far as to publicly call someone "Daddy" and hug their thigh in a scene so explosive it defied description.
In the end.
When the Academy last opened, the number of slots for Sanqing Grotto-Heaven to enter for advanced cultivation wasn't reduced by much.
But.
No matter how glorious the past deeds, time would inevitably fade them.
800 years later, no one remembered the terrible price the Sanqing Immortal Sect paid to resist the demon race.
Or rather, they remembered — they just pretended not to.
All they knew was.
The Academy's opening meant endless opportunity and profit.
Limited seats at the table.
If you wanted more admission slots, you had to steal them from someone else.
And the Sanqing Immortal Sect, clearly on its last legs, still held a number of admission slots that ranked near the top even among grotto-heaven-level powers.
If they weren't the target, who would be?
Right now.
Every grotto-heaven and blessed land in the Southern Province was probably eyeing Sanqing Grotto-Heaven like a pack of wolves.
The moment an opportunity presented itself.
They would find any way to tear off a piece of its flesh — the profits of Fengqi Tower were one thing, the Academy's admission slots were another.
Miaoyin Blessed Land.
A mere blessed-land-level power, yet bold enough to show its fangs like this — there was likely a grotto-heaven-level puppet master pulling strings behind the scenes.
This move was perhaps just a probe.
But if mishandled.
All sorts of trouble would likely come knocking at the Sanqing Immortal Sect's door in the near future.
Once he processed all of this.
Qin Guangling's already grim expression turned even darker.
It seemed.
He couldn't refuse this challenge.
After all, behind him stood countless fellow disciples — the dignity and interests of the entire sect.
...
At this moment.
Qin Guangling, clad in women's clothing, stepped out of the tower pavilion without a single backward glance.
With all the solemn gravitas.
Of a general donning armor and marching off to war.
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